Slitter device tilting webs in accordance with the tilt of the receiving tray



Aug. 18, 1964 P|TNER 3,144,797

SLITTER DEVICE TILTING WEBS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TILT OF THE RECEIVINGTRAY 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 13, 1953 at H.

IN VEN TOR.

A L 0 Y0 E. 1 ruse Dscsmiso 5y JaH/v 1.. P1 TNEAZ, BY Ham/A05 rEmT E W,M ATTOBNEYs Aug. 18, 1964 E. PITNER 3,144,797

SLITTER DEVICE TILTING WEBS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TILT OF THE RECEIVINGTRAY Original Filed July 13, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 a m o m 0 Q INVENTOR.Q 3Q & A 4. 0 Y0 E D/TNER, Dsce ssn E Y JOHN A P, rNEE,

\ Arrozusv R a EW MMFM Aug. 18, 1964 E. PITNER 3,144,797

SLITTER DEVICE TICTING WEBS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TILT OF THE RECEIVINGTRAY Original Filed July 13, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 l l J o i l I L J I LL IN V EN TOR.

(LOYDE: p/TNEQ, 0505/7550 5y JaH/v A. P/TNEIQ Ham/1w 7-29 r02 A rrozwev5 L. E. PITN ER Aug. 18, 1964 3,144,797 SLITTER DEVICE TILTING WEBS INACCORDANCE WITH THE TILT OF THE RECEIVING TRAY Original Filed July '13,1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aug. 18, 1964 PITNER 3,144,797

SLITTER DEVICE TIL'TING WEBS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TILT OF THERECEIVING TRAY Original Filed July 13, 1955 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Arroe/vsvfL. E. PITN ER Aug. 18, 1964 SLITTER DEVICE TILTING WEBS IN ACCORDANCEWITH THE TILT OF THE RECEIVING TRAY Original Filed July 13, 1953 7Sheets-Sheet 6 u RN 8m t 7 L. E. PITN ER Aug. 18, 1964 SLITTER DEVICETILTING WEBS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TILT OF THE RECEIVING TRAY OriginalFiled July.l3, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 I N V EN TOR. LLOYD E. PITA/ER,052595150 BY JOHN A. TNEE. BY Ham/N5 rEHTO Q W m W A TT ENEVS UnitedStates Patent 3,144,797 SLITTER DEVICE TILTING WEBS IN ACCORD- WITH THETILT 0F THE RECEIVING '1 Lloyd E. Pitner, deceased, late of Milwaukee,Wis., by John L. Pitner, administrator, Milwaukee, Wis. Originalapplication July 13, 1953, Ser. No. 367,686, new Patent No. 2,879,991,dated Mar. 31, 1959. Divided and this application Mar. 18, 1959, Ser.No. 804,059

4 Claims. (Cl. 8387) This invention relates to a collocating machine.

This is a division of copending application Serial No. 367,686, filedJuly 13, 1953, and now Patent 2,879,991.

Broadly speaking, the invention relates to a machine for slitting intostrips a sheet made up of units arranged in rows longitudinally of thesheet and in rows transversely of the sheet; the advancement of thestrips onto a collocating tray; the stacking of the strips from thecollocating tray; the severing of the units from each other; theadvancement of the units into collocating pockets and the advancement ofthe units with the pockets to a point of delivery.

In carrying out the collocating steps, a high degree of accuracy isrequired and yet high speed of operation is necessary to carry out apractical collocation. In each of the steps in handling material throughthe collocating machine, the strips of individual units are socontrolled that the high degree of accuracy in operations is attainedand means are provided for the ultimate collocation either amounting toa shuttling of the units in final delivery, or in collocating them witha high degree of predetermined arrangement adapting the machine for usein converting, collocating and assembling of cards or of pages to bearranged as books.

More particularly stated the object of the invention is to attain rapidoperation of an input feed of units in sheet form, slit the sheet intostrips of units, collocate them on a tray and by change of direction ofmovement and by provision or" a special tray, arrange the strips instacks for severance of the units from one another before shufflingthem, the shuilling being accomplished in passing the units to aconveyor.

Other objects of the invention are to be found in the features ofconstruction of the machine such as the timing of the variousfunctioning parts, the means for jogging the strips just prior to a diecutting operation, the pusher apparatus with its means for advancing thestrips or the units with certainty and accuracy as will be apparent fromthe following description.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the entire machine drawn to the scale ofthree-fourths of an inch to one foot.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of portions of the machine, other portions ofthe machine being cut away to show diagrammatically the path of progressof material acted upon by the machine.

FIG. 3 shows in plan in an enlarged scale of one and one half inches toone foot the portions of the machine in which the slitting, stacking,die cutting, and pocketing of the material is accomplished.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the central portion of the machine, themotor driving mechanism and the input conveyor and slitter beingdeleted.

FIG. 11 is a detail in front elevation of the parts for drive and dwelldirectly operated by the rack bar shown at the lower right in FIG. 3.

FIG. 12 is a section on line 1212 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a side elevation of the pneumatic control device for thedrive and dwell mechanism shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

FIG. 14 is a detail in enlarged elevation of pockets and pocket conveyormechanism forming part of the output end of the machine.

FIG. 15 is a section on line 1515 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a vertical section showing fragmentarily a detail of aportion of the die cutting head in retracted position over a stack ofstrips of cards positioned upon the bed of the machine in readiness fora die cutting operation.

Using FIGS. 1 and 2 as a basis for a preliminary general description ofthe machine tracing the path of movement of material therethrough, at 25is an input feed table over which the sheet 26 of units is manually fedto the position shown in FIG. 2 where it may be gripped and fedautomatically by feed rolls 27 and 28 so that the fed edge of the sheet26 is engaged by slitting rolls 29 and 30. These slitting rolls act asfeed rolls to project the individual strips 31 into the respectiveechelon troughs of the collocating tray 35. Stacker chains 36 causestacker dogs 37 to move in slots across collocating tray 35 to force thestrips 31 laterally of the tray and to advance them against stack stops40. There they are in an accurately determined position in readiness foraction by strip pushers 165 which move the stack under the die cutterhead 45 for action by the die cutter knives. When the die cutter kniveshave come down thereon, the individual units are pushed by the pusherbar 41 into pockets 46 formed by a pocket conveyor mechanism 50. Fromthese pockets 46 advanced upon the conveyor 50 to a point of delivery,the units may be removed manually or automatically as desired.

In the following detailed description of the various parts of thecollocating machine, a minimum of description of the application ofpower to the various parts will be dealt with until in conclusion thedrive connections will be dealt with separately.

The Input Feed Mechanism The operator of the machine places sheet 26upon table 25 and thrusts it forward against an infeed stop 51. He isable to do this because the infeed rolls 27 and 28 are amply separatedby an automatic input mechanism. The lower feed roll 28, as shown inFIG. 7, is mounted upon a fixed arbor 52 and its top surface istangential to the plane of the top of table 25, but arbor 53 of theupper feed roll 27 is carried in bearing blocks 54 secured to a yoke 55.The yoke is mounted on a yoke shaft 56 and at each end of the yoke thereis a pintle connection 57 to a yoke rod 58 extending to a tree 59beneath frame 60 of the table 25. Centrally the tree 59 is connected toan air piston 61 of air cylinder 62, the valve for which is at 63 and isconnected at 64 to a source of compressed air. Valve 63 is under controlof a timer 65. Valve 63 is electrically operated and the timer 65includes two separate switches each of which is provided with a feeler66-67 mounted upon a frame bracket 68 in such a position that timer pin69 mounted on an eccentric 70 will trip the feeler 66 so as to close theelectric circuit 71-72 and cause the air valve to pull the yoke 54downwardly, and almost immediately thereafter timer pin 69 will wipeagainst feeler 67 to close a circuit in wires 72-73 and actuate thevalve to force the yoke upwardly again. This means that the upper feedroll is brought down upon sheet 26 at the same time that feed stop 51 isdrawn upwardly to permit the feed of the sheet to the slitting rolls andthe feed rolls are brought into operating relation upon sheet 26 merelylong enough to advance the sheet to the bite of the slitting rolls.Immediately upon the release of the upper feed roll from its feedingcontact with the sheet 26, the feed stop 51 is dropped down upon theforwardly feeding sheet so that the operator can feed an additionalsheet in under the upper feed roll and into contact with the feed stop51 in readiness for another feeding operation at the time when the timerpin 69 again contacts feeler 66.

The Slitting Operation As has already been indicated, sheet 26 has anarray of units scribed or otherwise delineated thereon in rows indicatedin FIGS. 2 as 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, and the individual units in anyparticular row are shown at 85, 86, 87, 88, 89., 90, 91 as shown in FIG.2. There is also a waste area 92 at the end of the sheet 26.

The power driven slitting rolls 29 and are of the type well known inthis art. Their arbors are in fixed pillow blocks 93 and 94 and eachroll is equipped with annular slitting rings 95 so disposed that theside of one ring is continuous with and overlaps the side of a ring onthe other roll. The result is, as will be readily apparent from anexamination of FIG. 2, that as the sheet encounters the slitting rollsthe rings 95 on roll 30 will lift one edge of a strip 31 and the ring 95on roll 29 will depress the other edge of the strip. The strips 31 arethus tilted to match the tilt of the bottoms of the grooves ofcollocating tray 35. Also, there may be waste strips at each side marginof the sheet. These are diverted downwardly after they have been slit bythe rings 95.

Since as above described the feed rolls 27 and 28 are separated at thetime when the slitting rolls engage the sheet 26, it is the feed rollcharacteristic of the outer surface of the rings 95 bearing upon thesurface of the strips which actually feeds the strips onto and acrosstray 35, but since the distance from the slitting rolls to the stop atthe far end of the tray is greater than the length of the strips, meansmust be provided to assure that the strips are fed completely onto thetray. For this purpose a final feed roll 96 is constantly power rotatedand idler squeeze roll 97 is mounted on an arm 98 pivoted at 99 so thatwhen air is fed into cylinder 100 the plunger 101 thereof will bear uponthe arm 98 and cause the strip to be squeezed between rolls 96 and 97for a final feeding operation. The air control for the cylinder 100 (seeFIG. 8) is located in an air feed line 102 and a valve 103 has anactuating arm 104 responsive to cam button 105 carried by a shaft 145.When all of the strips have reached their positions upon the collocatingtray 35, and against strip stops 107, they are ready for the stackingoperation.

The Collocating Stacker As shown most clearly in FIGS. 2, 8 and 9, tray35 is made up of a number of shallow troughs, the bottoms of which arein echelon. Each trough is positioned to receive a strip 31 and as eachstrip slides into its trough lengthwise, it comes in contact with thestrip stop 107 at the end of the trough. Since the strips are often madeof material which may be lifted by a breeze or may tend to convoluteunder the driving force of the slitter rolls or final feed roll 96, anumber of brush guides 111 and 112 (see FIGS. 3 and 7) are so positionedthat the bristles bear approximately at right angles to the inclinedsurface of the particular trough with reference to which a particularbrush acts as a guide.

Above the tray 35' and aligned with the slots 38 and 39 are stackerchains 36 supported upon sprockets 113 on stacker shaft 114, and 115 onstacker idler shaft 116. The chains travel in the direction shown by thearrows and each chain has a stacker dog 37 pivotally mounted to itsside. Each stacker dog is L,-shaped and is relatively loosely pivotallymounted at the bend in the L. The lower reach of each chain travels inan inverted channel memher 117 shaped to receive not only the chain butthe L- shaped portion of the dog, and therefore shaped to keep the dog37 in position to force the strips 31 laterally in a stacking orbunching operation wherein the first strip 31 contacted by the dog isforced out of its trough and up over the strip in the next adjacenttrough. Thus the stacking operation is progressively and positivelycarried on until all of the strips 31 are stacked against stack stops40. The channels 117 terminate at the point necessary to release thestacker dog 37 and permit it to swingably evade the stack at the pointwhere the stacker dog interferes with the advancing progress of thestack at this point in the delivery of the stack against the stop 40.

Slack Feeding and Die Cutting When a complete stack has been depositedagainst the stack stops 40, the apparatus for operation of the stackpusher bar 41 provides means for advancing the stack into position underthe die head 45. The die head is mounted above bed 120 and is mountedfor vertical reciprocation between ways 121, 122 as shown in FIG. 3. Thehead 45 is carried upon heavy trunnions 123, 124 each carried by anadjustable pitman 125, 126. Each pitman is carried by an eccentric 127on the end of head operating shaft 128 so that the die head 45 isvertically reciprocated to and from the bed 120.

Since, in the particular example of work to be done on this machine, thestack is to be cut transversely and separated into individual cards, theknives of the die cutter comprise individual knives 130 held in placeand clamped by blocks under pressure of set screw 132 as shown in FIG.16. The knives 130 are flanked by compressible stripper blocks 133 in amanner common in this art. Thus there are spaces between the stripperblocks for some of the mechanism required to move the strips of cardsacross the bed.

Above the tray 35 is a substantially rectangular frame shown in plan inFIG. 3. It is supported at 141, 142, 143, and 144 by blocks which inturn are each supported by a cam 141', 142', 143' and 144 on shafts 145and 146. The shafts 145 and 146 are connected by chain 147 so that theyrotate at the same rate of speed, with the result that the frame 140remains horizontally above the tray and is raised and lowered insynchronism with the other parts of the machine. One wall of the frame140 at 148 is provided with bearing bores at 149, 150 through whichstack pusher bar rods 151 and 152 are extended as shown in FIG. 3. Thesepusher bar rods are developed at one end into rack bars 154-155 and atthe other they carry a pusher bar head 156-157 to which a pusher barconnector 158-159 is mounted. It is upon the end of these connectors158-159 that the stack pusher bar itself is mounted. Under the rack bars154-155 there is a slide support 160-161 carried by frame 140 so that apinion 162-163 may act upon the push rods 151-152 in accord with a driveof the pinion as described below.

It will thus be seen that as the framework 140 is raised and lowered thepush rods 151 and 152 will be reciprocated by the pinion and rack bardrive therefor, and pusher bar 41 is lowered to the bed 120, thrust tothe right as viewed in FIG. 9 to push material in that direction, thenraised with the frame 140 during retraction of the pusher bar, and thenlowered again to the bed for another pushing operation. The entireheight of the pusher bar 41 and its connectors 158-159 is slightly lessthan the compressed thickness of the stripper blocks 133 and theconnectors 158-159 are spaced between sets of stripper blocks.

Under the connectors and adjustably secured thereto are strip pushers165. These are positioned at a distance from the pusher bar 41 equal tothe total horizontal stroke of the push rods 151-152. Their function isto push the stacked strips from their position against stops 40accurately to the position which the strips must take under the head 45for a die cutting operation.

Reviewing the action of the stacker and the stack feeding and diecutting, it will be seen that the dogs 37 stack the strips 31 and movethem against the stops where they come to rest and the dogs 37 retractso that they may return to pick up the next group of strips. The stops40 are then retracted by mechanism to be described below and the strippushers 165 are brought down in position behind the strips in readinessfor a pushing operation wherein the strips are pushed under the diehead. With the die head descending for a die cutting operation, theconnectors 158-159 lie in a position between the die cutting kniveswhere they will not interfere with the die cutting operation. The diecutting is completed and the head raises suificiently and in such timedrelation to the movement of the pushers that the stack pusher bar 41 maybe raised, retracted, and brought down behind the die cut material andmoved in a pushing operation to push the die cut material out from underthe die head 45 and into conveyor pockets described below.

Push, Refract, Dwell and Push Apparatus Pinions 162 and 163 engaged withthe rack bars 154 and are mounted upon shaft (FIG. 3). A dwell drivepinion 171 (FIG. 11) is mounted near the end of this shaft. Actually thepinion 171 is loosely mounted on the shaft but it has a hub 172, sectorsof which at 173- 174 are cut away (FIG. 12). Keyed to the shaft 170 is acollar 175 which has a pair of drive lugs 176-177 shaped complementarilyto the contour of hub 172 but of substantially less peripheral extentthan the missing sectors of hub 172 at 173-174. A hubbed retainerbracket 178 is mounted upon shaft 178 and is so shaped that the pinion,keyed to the shaft is embraced by the bracket to hold the bracket inposition and retain the rack bar 188 in engagement with the pinion. Adwell drive rack bar 180 is secured to a pitman 181 which is in turnconnected to a dwell drive plate 182 so that as the plate 182 revolvesin timed relation to the rest of the power connections of the machinethe rack bar 180 causes the stack pusher bar apparatus to bereciprocated. However, it is necessary that the stack pusher bar dwellin that part of its stroke in which the pusher bar is at the extremeright as viewed in FIG. 9, and this dwell takes place at the time whenthe rack bar is in the extreme left position as viewed in FIG. 10. Toproduce this reciprocation and dwell drive, a separate driving force isprovided to urge shaft 170 to rotate in counterclockwise direction asviewed in FIGS. 9 and 10. This separate driving force is provided by themechanism shown in FIG. 13. A sprocket 185 on shaft 170 is provided witha chain 186, one end of which at 187 hangs freely. The other end 188 isconnected to the plunger rod 189 of a piston (not shown) in a cylinder190. Air pressure upon the piston and cylinder 190 is provided throughan air tube 191 which constantly urges the piston to its lowermostposition and therefore constantly tends to revolve sprocket 185 andshaft 170 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGS. 9 and 13.Thus with the drive connections for shaft 178 as thus far described, thepneumatic drive is adequate to advance the pusher bar to its forwardposition at the right as viewed in FIGS. 9 and 10 until the adjustingnuts 192 upon the plunger rod 189 strike a stop at 193. Throughout thisstroke of the plunger 189, the collar 175 and its drive lugs 176 haveactually been attempting to drive pinion 171 faster than rack bar 188permits it to travel. But when the nuts 192 strike stop 193, thepneumatic drive of shaft 170 ceases and there is a dwell in itsoscillation throughout the remaining portion of the stroke of rack bar188 in that direction. Then as the direction of movement of rack bar 180is reversed, the hub 172 of pinion 171 picks up the lug 176 and thepusher bar is retracted. Of course, throughout the retracting stroke ofthe rack bar the pneumatic drive resists the mechanical operation of thepusher since there is no automatic valve to shut off or control airpressure in the cylinder 190.

8 As will be described more in detail below, the pushing stroke of therack bar 188 and the movement of the pusher bar 41 is accomplished whilethe frame 140 is in its lowermost position with the pusher bar 41 andstrip pushers 165 in contact with the bed 120 of the machine.

The Pocket Conveyor In the particular collocating operation illustratedin FIG. 2 where the strips 31 comprise units of card-like configurationafter the strips have been acted upon by the knives 130, it is desiredthat a pack of these cards as ultimately delivered by the machine shallinclude sets of units stacked one above the other; units from one end ofthe strip 31 are to be overlaid by another stack of units comprising thesecond set from the end of each strip 31 and so forth throughout thelength of the strips. Therefore, a conveyor mechanism 50 is providedwith individual pockets 46 to be advanced step by step along the bed ofthe machine. Each of these pockets, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and14, is made up of a plate 195 secured to a belt-like metallic strip 196.Each plate 195 is provided with a pair of strap engaging clamps 197- 198which are undercut to receive the strap 196 as shown in FIG. 15. It willbe noted that the strap 196 has a line of perforations 199 spaced infrom each margin of the strap. Each of the clamps 197 and 198 isprovided with a dowel 280 shaped for insertion through one of theperforations and into a pocket in plate 195. Thus the plate is securedsnugly and positively to the strap 196 and cannot change its positionwith respect to the strap. Each pocket 46 has a side plate 201, and avertically bored bottom plate 202 of substantial vertical dimension.Through the bore 203 is guided a rod-like bottom post 204 at the upperend of which is a tilted bottom 205 for the pocket. This tilted bottomis of such dimensions as to fit between the side plate 201 of its ownpocket and the side plate of an adjacent pocket when the pockets arealigned along the bed 120. At the lower end of bottom rod 204 is acaster wheel 286 positioned to roll upon a bottom adjusting conveyorchannel 217.

The conveyor strap 196 is in belt-like relation to two conveyor pulleys210 and 211 which are supported upon vertical axes in bearings 212 and213 so that the strap 196 has one long reach 215 parallel with themargin of the bed 120 along which the strap and its pockets may pass toreceive the die cut product pushed from beneath the die cutting head 45.

It will be noted that the channel 217 is sloped with its lowermostportion at the left as seen in FIG. 4 and its highest portion as seen atthe right. As the pockets pass in their path of travel from the extremeright to the extreme left, the bottoms 285 of the pockets are loweredprogressively, and in their path of travel from left to right as seen inFIG. 4 the casters riding in the channel are progressively elevated topush the pocket bottoms back up toward the tops of the pockets inreadiness for reception of the next load of units. To keep the pocketserect, each plate 195 is provided with a roller 218 slightly outstandingtherefrom as shown clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4. These rollers arepositioned to roll in an upper channel 219 which is horizontallydisposed since the strap 196 and channel 219 are not sloped. The strap196 bears upon the vertical side margins of pulleys 211) and 211 andeach of the pulleys fits between clamps 197-198 to prevent the strapfrom sagging off of the rim of the pulley.

Near the lower end of each plate 195 is a driving spud 225 extendinginwardly of the path of travel. These spuds are in position to be actedupon by a reciprocating drive dog 226 and they receive the driving forceto move the conveyor in step by step motion. The dog is much like aspring latch and is mounted on a pin 227 carried by a slide 228 which iscarried by slide mount 229. The spring to act on the latch is seen at230 in dotted lines. Slide 228 is reciprocated by pitman 231 acted uponby rotary plate 232 on shaft 233. As the plate revolves the slide isreciprocated, and the dog is moved far enough on each stroke to engagethe next spud on the next pocket so as to advance it the proper amountfor reception of the next set of stacked and severed units. As the slideis moved to the right (FIG. 4) the dog is forced by the next spud tooscillate downwardly against its spring 23% and it then snaps up intodriving position for its next forward stroke against the spud.

If a particular collocating operation requires that the pockets beadvanced for a greater distance, as for instance, the distance of twopockets, the slide is long enough to permit of a longer sweep with alarger plate and a longer pitman for that purpose.

The Driving and Power Connections With the exception of the powerderived from air under pressure, the entire machine is powered by motorand speed reducer 240. This is connected by V-belts to a clutch 241 onmain power shaft 242. This shaft is extended across the lower part ofthe machine and is seen in FIG. 5 where it terminates in a spur pinion243. This pinion drives a spur gear 244, on the shaft 245 of which is amiter gear at 246 mated with 247 on shaft 248. Sprocket 249 and chain250 for the drive of shaft 251 are connected to the infeed rolls andslitters.

FIG. 7 shows shaft 251 and sprocket drive through chain 252 to the lowerfeed roll 28. This roll (see FIGS. 3 and 5) has spur gear connection at253-254 to the upper feed roll 27. It will be remembered that upper feedroll 27 is mounted on arm 54 but both rolls are power drivennevertheless and rotate at identical peripheral speed at all times inreadiness for feeding operation when the air controlled plunger incylinder 62 and its yoke 55 pull down the upper roll and squeeze thesheet to be fed.

Shaft 251 also is connected through sprockets and chain 255 with thelower slitter roll 30 so that power is applied to these rolls which areinterconnected by spur pinions 256 and 257.

Another chain connection 260-261 with appropriate sprockets providespower from shaft 251 to drive final feed roll 96 as shown most clearlyin FIGS. 7. This is the feed roll which completes the feed of strips 31onto the tray 35 after they have left the slitting rolls.

The heaviest drive connections are those which drive the head 45. Mainpower shaft 242 with its spur pinion 243 and driving spur gear 244 onshaft 245 as above described carry rotative power to head drive pinion265 meshed with large spur gear 266 on head operating shaft 128. Thusthe motor drive to the head is relatively slow, actually in theparticular illustrated operation 20 cycles per minute.

Upon the head operating shaft 128 is a large sprocket 270 (see FIG. 5)with chain 271 operating over idler sprockets 272 and 273 and extendingto sprocket 274 on jack shaft 275. This supplies power to a pinion 276meshed with gear 277 on stacker shaft 114. It is this stacker shaftwhich carries the two sprockets 113 for stacker chains 36 as describedabove.

As shown in FIG. 10 it is stacker shaft 114 which carries power tosprocket 280 and chain 281 for the drive of the pusher mechanism. Chain281 is connected to driven sprocket 282 on shaft 145 and since shaft 145is connected to shaft 146 by chain 147 the drive is complete for raisingand lowering pusher frame 140.

Likewise the chain drive to sprocket 282 drives the plate 182 for thepush and dwell mechanism.

A jogger shaft 285 extending across the machine under tray 35 isconnected to shaft 146 by means of chain 286 and appropriate sprockets287 and 288. This jogger shaft has a flanged cam hub 289, the cam ofwhich is convoluted as shown at 290 in FIG. 7. A jogger rod 291 iscarried reciprocably parallel to shaft 285 by tray supports 292 and 293and by frame member 294, and the jogger roller at the end of the rodbears against the convolutions 290 under the bias of compression spring295 positioned about the rod and between the frame and the roller head296. Extending upwardly from the rod 291 is a jogger 297 protrudingthrough the bed 120. It is thus in line with the end of a stack ofstrips 31 when the stack pushers 165 have pushed the stack off of thetray 35. The jogging by the jogger 297 aligns the ends of the stripswith accuracy so that the units are pressed against guide 298 and may beaccurately severed from one another by the die head after they have beenpushed forward.

On shaft 285 is also cam 300 with cam flange 301 faced to the right asseen in FIG. 7. This cam is shaped to properly time the upward thrustand then the retraction of stack stops 40. Each of these stack stops ismounted in vertical ways 305 attached to a frame member 306 so that thelower end of each stop 40 is connected to an L- shaped stop actuator 307mounted to a frame supported pin 308. The other end of each L-shapedactuator is connected to a reciprocable actuator bar 309 and theconnections have appropriate lost motion slots as shown. The bar 309 hasa roller head 310 somewhat similar to roller head 296. This is biased byspring 311 to bear against earn 301 which reciprocates bar 309 in propertimed relation so that the stops 40 retract below the bed when a stackpushing operation is to be performed.

This completes the power connections except for the pocket conveyordrive which is shown most clearly in FIG. 4. Shaft 128 is connected tojack shaft 315 by means of sprocket 316 and chain 317. Miter gears at318 connect jack shaft 315 to conveyor drive shaft 319 and a sprocketthereon drives chain 320 connected to jack shaft 321. Another chain, onappropriate sprockets, at 322 connects shaft 321 to the shaft 233 ofplate 232. Thus the rotation of the plate is powered to motivate thestep by step movement of the pocket conveyor as above described.

Under the channel 217 at 325 is a pocket jogger comprising a rotor withknobs positioned to contact the channel when the rotor is operated bychain 326 connected to shaft 321. This slight jogging of the pocketbottoms and the pockets generally serves to settle the cards or units asthey are passed to the conveyor.

It will also be noticed that at 327 there are guides over each pocketposition so as to direct the units downwardly as they leave the bed 120.

The framework to support the various parts of the machine will beobvious from an examination of the drawings. Pedestals 350 under the bedat the pocket conveyor end of the machine are built heavily. Legs 351 atthe other end of the machine are lighter but they also support crossmembers 60 and risers 352 braced by braces 353 to carry the functioningportions of the machine.

Operational Sequence of the Machine Referring to the particularcollocating problem used herein as an illustrative use of thisinvention, the sheets of units are to be separated and arranged in theultimate form of cards piled in the pockets. Each of these cards is aprize or trading card to be included in a package of candy or gum. Theremust be a certain number of these cards (units) of a certain type ineach filled pocket. For instance, one sheet has a picture on each unitof a major league ball player and a complete sheet shows all the playersin a ball club. A complete pocket full of cards or units at the outputend of the machine will have one picture of each player.

The operator feeds a sheet across the table 25 so that its leading edgestrikes infeed stop 51. The infeed rolls 27 and 28 are ready to bearagainst the sheet as soon as air valve 63 is opened by switch 66. Airunder pressure is thus passed for a short interval to cause arm 55 to bepulled down. Roll 27 is brought down by the arm and the sheet is fed tothe slitting rolls with suflicient force to cause the slitting rings tobite into the sheet and to commence action which is both a feeding and aslitting operation as above described.

The individual strips 31 are tilted as shown in FIG. 6 and are projectedinto their respective troughs under the bristles of the respectivebrushes 111-112. While the feed of strips by the slitters is quite fastthere is suflicient friction in the trough and under the bristles toprevent the strips from reaching the stops 1117 at the ends of theroughs. Therefore, in timed relation to the approaching trailing ends ofthe strips the valve 193 passes air to the cylinder 1% and the squeezerolls 97, of which there are enough separate roll surfaces to contactthe individual strips, press the strips upon the final feed rollsurfaces at 96 to complete the feeding action.

When the slitting and strip feeding operation is complete the strips 31are disposed in flat contact with the tilted bottoms of the troughs inthe tray 35, the high side of each trough being on the side toward thehead 45. Then the stacker dogs attached to the chains 36 are timed toswing to the lower reach of the chains where the channels 117 hold thedogs 37 in the vertical position shown in FIG. 2 for a stacking sweepacross the tray. It will be clear that each strip 31 laterally moved upand out of its trough is projected up and over the strip in the nexttrough. A stacking of strips is the result, and the complete stack, inthis case of five strips slides out of the last trough onto the bed 120approximately under the shaft 278, but definitely against stack stops40.

It is while the stack is in this position that the jogger mechanism 290,296, 297 jogs the ends of the strips so that the strips are abuttedagainst the guide 298 for accurate location prior to the advancement ofthe stack into position under the die head 45.

The timing is such that the die head is close to its lower position onthe descending stroke when a new stack is moved to position against stop49. This means that the pusher mechanism is in its advanced position,the rack bar 180 is in its opposite relation to the position shown inFIG. and the apparatus for dwell in the pusher operation is etfective.The adjusting nuts at 192 are against the head 193 of the cylinder 190.The air action to ad- Vance the pusher is no longer eifective, the rackbar is taking up the slack in the apparatus 171-180, and the pusher rodsare motionless.

At this time the pitmen 125 at each end of the head are being pulleddown by eccentrics 70 and the die cutting operation is taking place. Thepads 133 are compressed at either side of each blade 130 and the bladesare severing the units from one another.

As the head 45 is being retracted (raised) in upward movement followingthe die cutting operation, the dwell apparatus has completed itsfunction and the rack bar 1841 moves to the position shown in FIG. 10with the positive mechanical result of pulling the pusher apparatus tothe position shown in FIG. 9 where it is about to be lowered for anotherpushing operation.

During the early part of the retraction of the pusher mechanism the cams141, 142, 143 and 144 have raised frame 140 so that the pusher bar andits connectors 158- 159 with their stack pushers 165 are raised highenough to clear the new stack now being jogged. Then when the pushersare fully retracted the frame 140 is lowered to bring the stack pushers165 down onto the bed 120.

Rack bar 180 is now in the position shown in FIG. 10 and rack bars154-155 are in the positions shown in FIG. 9.

Stops 40 are now drawn below the bed by the cam 3013 and bar 309 and areheld there while the next pushing operation proceeds. The head 45 is nowin its uppermost position and the previously die cut stack is inposition to be pushed by pusher bar 41. The frame 140 stays in itslowermost position while the pushers are thrust forward by rack bars154455 with the result that stack pushers 165 move the stacked strips 31into position under the head 45. The stacked strips are not onlyadvanced accu- 1'9 rately to position in the advancing movement, butalso are held in properly stacked position by the overhead pressure ofthe connectors 158-159.

As the forward motion of the stack is complete the stack stops 41? againare raised above the bed to position the next stack to come from thetray.

The forwardly moving die cut cards are projected off of the bed and intothe respective pockets 46 with which each card is aligned. This meansthat the five units, one each from the end of strips -84 is dropped intothe pocket at the left as seen in FIG. 2. The five cards to go into thenext pocket comprise the next card in each of the five strips and so onthrough the rest of the groups of five cards to a stack in the length ofthe strips.

On the next cycle the pockets will have advanced one thrust of the dog226 with the result that the next pack of five cards will be a differentpack of cards struck from the next adjacent range of units. Forinstance, if the five cards coming to a pocket on one cycle come fromrange 91 the next five cards to that same pocket will come from range(see FIG. 2). Thus by the time a pocket has progressed throughout thelength of the bed the successive cycles will have filled the pocket withfive cards from each range and the pocket will have a complete set ofcards from an entire sheet.

An operator at the infeed table 25 and an outfeed man at the output endof the pocket conveyor to unload the pockets constitute the onlymanpower required to run the machine.

What is claimed is:

1. In a collocating machine having feed means for sheet materialdirected forwardly toward a tray, a tray to receive a plurality ofindividual strip products, said tray having elongated troughs for thereceipt of each strip, said troughs having laterally inclined floorspositioned to receive a product moving into a trough from a receivingend thereof, a slitter positioned adjacent said receiving end of saidtroughs and comprising a pair of slitting rolls having spaced slittingcollars provided with mated radial side walls overlapping in contiguitywhereby in a slitting operation, material at one side of the slit isthrust one way, and the other is thrust the other way to tilt the slitmaterial, said slitting collars being arranged and positioned along saidrolls whereby to slit material and tilt it for passage to a trough inaccord with the tilt of the bottom of the trough.

2. In a collocating machine, a slitter and a tray, the slitter havingmeans for tilting the slit strips, and the tray being positioned toreceive slit strips from the slitter, the tray having troughs tilted inaccord with the tilt of the strips.

3. In a collocating machine, a pair of slitting rolls each havingannular slitting knives with slightly contiguous radial side walls andstrip contacting peripheral lands whereby in a slitting operation oneside of the slit material is thrust one way and the other is thrust theother way to tilt the slit material, and a tray to receive the material,said tray having a surface tilted in the same direction as the material.

4. A collocating tray infeed apparatus having infeed rolls for initialfeed of sheet material to slitter rolls, slitter rolls positioned toreceive a sheet from the infeed rolls and act as feed rolls when theinfeed rolls no longer act on the sheet, the tray being spaced from theslitter rolls, and a final feed roll between the slitter rolls and thetray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS121,117 Mauger Nov. 21, 1871 146,897 Gilbert Jan. 27, 1874 1,951,389Anthony Mar. 20, 1934 2,482,118 Matthews Sept. 20, 1949 2,613,571 HermanOct. 14, 1952

1. IN A COLLOCATING MACHINE HAVING FEED MEANS FOR SHEET MATERIALDIRECTED FORWARDLY TOWARD A TRAY, A TRAY TO RECEIVE A PLURALITY OFINDIVIDUAL STRIP PRODUCTS, SAID TRAY HAVING ELONGATED TROUGHS FOR THERECEIPT OF EACH STRIP, SAID TROUGHS HAVING LATERALLY INCLINED FLOORSPOSITIONED TO RECEIVE A PRODUCT MOVING INTO A TROUGH FROM A RECEIVINGEND THEREOF, A SLITTER POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID RECEIVING END OF SAIDTROUGHS AND COMPRISING A PAIR OF SLITTING ROLLS HAVING SPACED SLITTINGCOLLARS PROVIDED WITH MATED RADIAL SIDE WALLS OVERLAPPING IN CONTIGUITYWHEREBY IN A SLITTING OPERATION, MATERIAL AT ONE SIDE OF THE SLIT ISTHRUST ONE WAY, AND THE OTHER IS THRUST THE OTHER WAY TO TILT THE SLITMATERIAL, SAID SLITTING COLLARS BEING ARRANGED AND POSITIONED ALONG SAIDROLLS WHEREBY TO SLIT MATERIAL AND TILT IT FOR PASSAGE TO A TROUGH INACCORD WITH THE TILT OF THE BOTTOM OF THE TROUGH.